Now this sounds like a diet we could get on board with! Eating foods with the elusive yet delicious Umami flavour could keep you fuller for longer, a new study has revealed.
In Western cooking, everyone is perhaps best aware of four basic flavours: sweet, salty, sour and bitter. In recent years though it’s the elusive fifth flavour, known as “Umami” that has captured the attention of food-lovers in the West – although it’s significance was identified in Asian cooking quite some time ago.
The term umami comes from Japan and loosely translates as “meatiness” but it can be tricky flavour to describe. It refers to that savoury flavour that you find in meats and seafood, mushrooms, cooked tomato, oyster sauce, parmesan cheese, vegemite, broths and stocks.
The new study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, reportedly shows that the umami flavour can make your meals taste more appetising, therefore making you feel satisfied and quell hunger pangs for longer:
The researchers Una Masic and Martin R Yeomans assessed a group of 26 volunteers by getting them all to eat the same breakfast. After that some participants ate a high-protein soup with an MSG-enzyme combination because MSG (monosodium glutamate) is the artificial substance which best replicates the naturally occurring umami flavour. Other participants had the non-umami soup.
All the participants then sat down for an identical lunch, and the scientists tracked how much the volunteers ate as questioning them about their appetite and how full they felt. The diners who ate the umami-based soup consumed less of their lunch, but said they still felt satisfied which suggests that umami may have a role in regulating eating
Related: Umami-inspired recipes
Another study, conducted by Richard D. Mattes, a professor of nutrition science at Purdue University and published in The New York Times, has analysed the various flavours that make up the human taste palate. Scientists say they are close to pinning down between 10 to 20 crucial flavours in addition to the basic five of sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami.
Dr Mattes advises that although there is still no consensus beyond sweet, salty, sour, bitter and savoury, the research makes clear there is more to taste than a handful of subtly different sensations on the tongue. Before long, we may have to give up on the concept of just a few basic tastes.
If there is one main contender for a sixth basic flavour though, the next most popular one identified in this study is fattiness – there are no reports though that this flavour will help with weight loss!
While the study has not been transformed into a weight-loss plan as yet, here’s a selection of delicious Umami flavoured recipes to whet your appetite and get you inspired in the kitchen.
Always see a doctor or professional before starting anything new
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